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ISLAMABAD: Afghan intelligence officials on Wednesday allegedly ‘kidnapped and kept in illegal detention’ two staffers of Pakistani embassy in Kabul for three hours, sources privy to the incident said.

“One of the two Pakistani officials was also beaten,” a source told Daily Times from Kabul via phone. “Both were released after three hours when Pakistan embassy approached senior Afghan officials,” he said.

Revealing details of the incident a source said that Hasan Khanzada, a clerk at the visa section, and Syed Munir Shah, embassy driver, had gone to a stationary shop when reportedly some agents of the National Directorate of Security ‘forcibly took them along with their car to one of their centres’. “The NDS men also beat Hasan Khanzada during the detention,” the source alleged.

The Afghan intelligence officials initially refused to confirm that they were holding Pakistani embassy staff members. However, later they confirmed that the two men were in the NDS custody. Both were allowed to go later on.

There was no word from the Afghan side on the incident till the filing of this report.